Days of Grace
International Captain
Greetings,
It is time for me to do my top 100 test batsmen countdown. There have been some changes to my formula since I did the test bowlers countdown last year. The two biggest changes are:
1. Runs per innings has been added as a factor. This has replaced the points-per-innings used in the test bowler countdown (wickets per innings has also replaced points per innings for the bowlers). It was too much work to calculate the points for every single innings played by all batsmen in test history with 500 career runs or more. Moreover, the points per innings factor gave too much emphasis to scoring centuries and being involved in team wins. In this way, career records and individual performances are kept separate.
2. The ratio/weight applied to each factor is now easier to understand and is consistent across both test batsmen and bowlers.
3. Instead of the top 100, everyone's records are compared to all batsmen who have scored 500 runs or more in test cricket.
The formula for both test batsmen and bowlers is as follows:
Career runs/years active 10%
Overall average/runs per innings/strike-rate 50%
Peak 50 innings average/runs per innings/strike-rate 20%
Non-home average/runs per innings/strike-rate 10%
Quality opposition/runs per innings/strike-rate 10%
* All averages, runs per innings and strike-rates are adjusted by era, quality of opposition, and match conditions. I have used Charles Davis' z score cricket stats blog to access balls faced data for many matched played before 1990. I have used the batsman's career strike-rate and applied it to individual innings with no balls faced data. Nevertheless, strike-rate should be taken as an estimate and not as a definitive record for the majority of players from earlier eras.
*** Batsmen with less than 50 innings for career and/or peak records and less than 25 innings for non-home and/or quality opposition records are penalized. They do not receive the full allotment of points.
**I have given historical ratings to all teams across all matches. Teams with ratings of 100.00 or above are seen as quality opposition. I have attached my test team ratings document.
Career runs and years active have a ratio of 1:1
Average, runs per innings and strike-rate are given different weights based on their perceived importance. The ratio for average, runs per innings and strike-rate is 4:2:1.
For every factor, a batsmen's record is compared to all other batsmen who have scored 500 runs or more in test cricket history. The batsmen ranked second in each factor are rewarded the full points (i.e. 100 points for career, 500 points for overall, 200 points for peak, 100 points for non-home and 100 points for quality opposition). All other batsmen receive points depending on how their record compares with the 2nd-placed batsman in each factor. I have done it this way because Don Bradman is so far ahead of everyone else (no spoilers here) in all factors apart from career record that he would have 960 points whilst the 2nd best batsman would only have 700 points. This would affect how batsmen and bowlers are compared across disciplines when it comes time to judging allrounders. In addition, giving full points to the 2nd-placed batsmen in each factor means that there need not be points limits and we can truly see how far ahead Bradman is ahead of the pack.
This is the culmination of a lot of work and I realize that no formula will please everyone. I hope everyone enjoys the countdown. All comments and constructive feedback are welcome.
Finally, for comparison's sake, here is the top 100 test batsmen list which I published on cricketweb in 2013. There have since been substantial changes to the formula.
1 DG Bradman 1500
2 GS Sobers 956
3 JB Hobbs 934
4 BC Lara 921
5 WR Hammond 904
6 IVA Richards 896
7 L Hutton 893
8 KC Sangakkara 889
9 SR Tendulkar 887
10 RT Ponting 879
11 GS Chappell 876
12 JH Kallis 876
13 GA Headley 872
14 H Sutcliffe 862
15 SR Waugh 856
16 KF Barrington 847
17 SM Gavaskar 845
18 R Dravid 843
19 AR Border 842
20 ED Weekes 841
21 Inzamam-ul-Haq 837
22 CL Walcott 828
23 Javed Miandad 818
24 RN Harvey 808
25 ML Hayden 808
26 S Chanderpaul 801
27 AD Nourse 801
28 AC Gilchrist 800
29 CH Lloyd 799
30 HM Amla 797
31 Younis Khan 796
32 Mohammad Yousuf 794
33 DCS Compton 794
34 AB de Villiers 793
35 RG Pollock 793
36 A Flower 784
37 DPMD Jayawardene 784
38 PBH May 783
39 MJ Clarke 783
40 RB Kanhai 783
41 FMM Worrell 776
42 V Sehwag 774
43 KD Walters 767
44 RB Simpson 763
45 G Boycott 760
46 CG Greenidge 758
47 Saeed Anwar 757
48 GA Gooch 756
49 GC Smith 755
50 DR Martyn 754
51 C Hill 750
52 VVS Laxman 748
53 AN Cook 748
54 JL Langer 747
55 KP Pietersen 746
56 GA Faulkner 745
57 MEK Hussey 743
58 B Mitchell 741
59 MC Cowdrey 739
60 GP Thorpe 739
61 G Kirsten 737
62 VT Trumper 733
63 SJ McCabe 729
64 WM Lawry 729
65 ME Waugh 728
66 MD Crowe 726
67 HW Taylor 726
68 DI Gower 722
69 MA Taylor 718
70 Hanif Mohammad 718
71 VS Hazare 711
72 CG Macartney 702
73 DJ McGlew 702
74 RB Richardson 702
75 GR Viswanath 699
76 SM Nurse 695
77 AL Hassett 694
78 Saleem Malik 693
79 IR Redpath 693
80 WH Ponsford 693
81 AR Morris 693
82 M Azharuddin 691
83 DJ Cullinan 691
84 E Paynter 690
85 PA de Silva 689
86 TT Samaraweera 687
87 DL Haynes 685
88 IJL Trott 683
89 M Leyland 682
90 Zaheer Abbas 682
91 BF Butcher 682
92 AI Kallicharran 681
93 AJ Stewart 676
94 DC Boon 676
95 EH Hendren 675
96 DB Vengsarkar 674
97 IM Chappell 673
98 DL Amiss 671
99 MJ Slater 670
100 PR Umrigar 668
It is time for me to do my top 100 test batsmen countdown. There have been some changes to my formula since I did the test bowlers countdown last year. The two biggest changes are:
1. Runs per innings has been added as a factor. This has replaced the points-per-innings used in the test bowler countdown (wickets per innings has also replaced points per innings for the bowlers). It was too much work to calculate the points for every single innings played by all batsmen in test history with 500 career runs or more. Moreover, the points per innings factor gave too much emphasis to scoring centuries and being involved in team wins. In this way, career records and individual performances are kept separate.
2. The ratio/weight applied to each factor is now easier to understand and is consistent across both test batsmen and bowlers.
3. Instead of the top 100, everyone's records are compared to all batsmen who have scored 500 runs or more in test cricket.
The formula for both test batsmen and bowlers is as follows:
Career runs/years active 10%
Overall average/runs per innings/strike-rate 50%
Peak 50 innings average/runs per innings/strike-rate 20%
Non-home average/runs per innings/strike-rate 10%
Quality opposition/runs per innings/strike-rate 10%
* All averages, runs per innings and strike-rates are adjusted by era, quality of opposition, and match conditions. I have used Charles Davis' z score cricket stats blog to access balls faced data for many matched played before 1990. I have used the batsman's career strike-rate and applied it to individual innings with no balls faced data. Nevertheless, strike-rate should be taken as an estimate and not as a definitive record for the majority of players from earlier eras.
*** Batsmen with less than 50 innings for career and/or peak records and less than 25 innings for non-home and/or quality opposition records are penalized. They do not receive the full allotment of points.
**I have given historical ratings to all teams across all matches. Teams with ratings of 100.00 or above are seen as quality opposition. I have attached my test team ratings document.
Career runs and years active have a ratio of 1:1
Average, runs per innings and strike-rate are given different weights based on their perceived importance. The ratio for average, runs per innings and strike-rate is 4:2:1.
For every factor, a batsmen's record is compared to all other batsmen who have scored 500 runs or more in test cricket history. The batsmen ranked second in each factor are rewarded the full points (i.e. 100 points for career, 500 points for overall, 200 points for peak, 100 points for non-home and 100 points for quality opposition). All other batsmen receive points depending on how their record compares with the 2nd-placed batsman in each factor. I have done it this way because Don Bradman is so far ahead of everyone else (no spoilers here) in all factors apart from career record that he would have 960 points whilst the 2nd best batsman would only have 700 points. This would affect how batsmen and bowlers are compared across disciplines when it comes time to judging allrounders. In addition, giving full points to the 2nd-placed batsmen in each factor means that there need not be points limits and we can truly see how far ahead Bradman is ahead of the pack.
This is the culmination of a lot of work and I realize that no formula will please everyone. I hope everyone enjoys the countdown. All comments and constructive feedback are welcome.
Finally, for comparison's sake, here is the top 100 test batsmen list which I published on cricketweb in 2013. There have since been substantial changes to the formula.
1 DG Bradman 1500
2 GS Sobers 956
3 JB Hobbs 934
4 BC Lara 921
5 WR Hammond 904
6 IVA Richards 896
7 L Hutton 893
8 KC Sangakkara 889
9 SR Tendulkar 887
10 RT Ponting 879
11 GS Chappell 876
12 JH Kallis 876
13 GA Headley 872
14 H Sutcliffe 862
15 SR Waugh 856
16 KF Barrington 847
17 SM Gavaskar 845
18 R Dravid 843
19 AR Border 842
20 ED Weekes 841
21 Inzamam-ul-Haq 837
22 CL Walcott 828
23 Javed Miandad 818
24 RN Harvey 808
25 ML Hayden 808
26 S Chanderpaul 801
27 AD Nourse 801
28 AC Gilchrist 800
29 CH Lloyd 799
30 HM Amla 797
31 Younis Khan 796
32 Mohammad Yousuf 794
33 DCS Compton 794
34 AB de Villiers 793
35 RG Pollock 793
36 A Flower 784
37 DPMD Jayawardene 784
38 PBH May 783
39 MJ Clarke 783
40 RB Kanhai 783
41 FMM Worrell 776
42 V Sehwag 774
43 KD Walters 767
44 RB Simpson 763
45 G Boycott 760
46 CG Greenidge 758
47 Saeed Anwar 757
48 GA Gooch 756
49 GC Smith 755
50 DR Martyn 754
51 C Hill 750
52 VVS Laxman 748
53 AN Cook 748
54 JL Langer 747
55 KP Pietersen 746
56 GA Faulkner 745
57 MEK Hussey 743
58 B Mitchell 741
59 MC Cowdrey 739
60 GP Thorpe 739
61 G Kirsten 737
62 VT Trumper 733
63 SJ McCabe 729
64 WM Lawry 729
65 ME Waugh 728
66 MD Crowe 726
67 HW Taylor 726
68 DI Gower 722
69 MA Taylor 718
70 Hanif Mohammad 718
71 VS Hazare 711
72 CG Macartney 702
73 DJ McGlew 702
74 RB Richardson 702
75 GR Viswanath 699
76 SM Nurse 695
77 AL Hassett 694
78 Saleem Malik 693
79 IR Redpath 693
80 WH Ponsford 693
81 AR Morris 693
82 M Azharuddin 691
83 DJ Cullinan 691
84 E Paynter 690
85 PA de Silva 689
86 TT Samaraweera 687
87 DL Haynes 685
88 IJL Trott 683
89 M Leyland 682
90 Zaheer Abbas 682
91 BF Butcher 682
92 AI Kallicharran 681
93 AJ Stewart 676
94 DC Boon 676
95 EH Hendren 675
96 DB Vengsarkar 674
97 IM Chappell 673
98 DL Amiss 671
99 MJ Slater 670
100 PR Umrigar 668
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